Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) was an eminent Irish poet best known for his lyrical poems about the local areas of Ireland; his work throughout his long career demonstrates his alternating visions of disillusionment and hope for the world. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, and has been described as "the most important Irish poet since Yeats" (Robert Lowell, per Wikipedia); upon his death in 2013, "The Independent" spoke of him as "probably the best-known poet in the world".

This publication by the Limited Editions Club is a collection of Heaney's poems and a brief memoir, exemplifying his poetic prowess and illuminating the influences and development of his career. Included at the beginning of each section are relief engravings by Henry Pearson (1914-2006), an abstract artist associated with the Op Art movement; his illustrations create a dizzying geometric rhythm and are adapted from prehistoric carvings found near Dublin in the Boyne Valley.

The introduction delves into the life and work of Heaney, and is written by Thomas Flanagan (1923-2002), a professor at University of California, Berkeley, who specialised in Irish literature.

___DESCRIPTION: Full dark brown aniline leather, blind-embossed relief engraving by Henry Pearson on the front board, gilt lettering on the spine, top edge gilt, fore- and bottom edges uncut, title page in brown and black, relief engravings printed in brown by Pearson at the beginning of each section; linotype Janson and Hammer's American Uncials, cream-tone Mohawk laid paper, folio size (12.5" by 7.5"), pagination: [i-viii] ix-xviii [1-2] 3-153 [154] [1 colophon], one of 1500 copies, this number 351, signed by Seamus Heaney, Thomas Flanagan, and Henry Pearson on the colophon. With the Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter, one sheet folded once, and a leaf containing instructions on how to take care of the leather binding. Housed in a slipcase covered in brown paper, with gilt lettering on the spine.

___CONDITION: A copy that is nearly fine; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; the leather has a few faint stray marks and light sunning to the spine, else fine. The LEC Monthly Letter and single leaf are near fine, clean, the monthly letter with the original mailing fold and a few shallow creases, the single leaf with a small crease to the bottom right corner, else fine. The slipcase is near fine, strong and sturdy, clean overall, with extremely slight wear to the paper at the corners of the opening, and spine is very faintly sunned, else fine.

___CITATION: LEC no. 530.

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